The qualifiers are nearly complete! A midseason update on the VR Challenger League

The VR Challenger League qualifier season is nearing a close as we’re coming to the final qualifier event at Dreamhack Winter on December 1-4 in Jonkoping Sweden!

Dreamhack Winter 2017

Dreamhack Winter is the second stop for The Unspoken following IEM Oakland in the US earlier this month. The winner of Dreamhack Winter will be guaranteed one of eight slots in the VR Challenger League grand finals of IEM Katowice in 2018. Also up for grabs at Dreamhack Winter is a €7200 prize pot, with €3500 going to first place, €2200 going to second, and €1500 going to third.

Week after week, players have been competing in online cups on ESL Play to acquire points and earn themselves a seed at the European qualifiers. The invitations are now locked in - here’s who we’ll see at Dreamhack Winter!

Yawning Soldier comes in with nearly double the score of the remaining three contenders, solidifying himself as the number one seed. Hailing from Finland, he’s competed every week since July of this year and dominated the leaderboards, taking first place almost every time. He regularly meets Dirvel and Flushgogo in the finals each week, with F_F never too far behind.

All eyes will be on Yawning Soldier as we expect to see a dominant performance, but the difference between online and offline play plus the added tournament pressure can always turn gods into mortals.

On top of these four invited players, another four challengers from the open bracket will look to take the tournament. First-time players and experienced duelists are welcome, and there are 8 slots in the open bracket, where the top four will advance to the next day. If you’re planning to be at Dreamhack Winter, toss your hat in the ring!

IEM Oakland 2017

Earlier this month the North American qualifiers for the VR Challenger League finals were held at IEM Oakland 2017. We got our first taste of the highest level of competition in The Unspoken, as duelists competed for the $7200 prize pot and a slot in the grand finals at IEM Katowice 2018. 8 players were invited after scoring points on ESL Play in each weekly tournament.

Competition was fierce and it came down to the number one seed Reukifellth against the #3 seed Charizard, who sent him to the lower bracket in the winners finals. Throughout the tournament Reukifellth put up a dominant performance, showing us why he was the number one seed.

With brutal pressure and powerful combos, he steamrolled the competition until he met Charizard, who was the first and only player to succesfully take him down. When they met in the grand finals, Reukifellth pulled out all the stops and showed what he was truly capable of.

In the end, it was Reukifellth who ran it back through the lower bracket against Charizard and took home the first place prize and secured himself a spot in the grand finals. Charizard and Nerdburglar took the second ($2200) and third place ($1500) prizes respectively, however they and the rest of the North American challengers will have to continue to battle it out week after week to earn one of the remaining three slots for their region leading up to IEM Katowice in March of 2018.

Congratulations to Reukifellth, we’re looking forward to seeing what you can do next year!

ESL One Hamburg 2017

In October, the European qualifiers for Echo Arena took place at ESL One Hamburg. Four teams were invited: JACKS, Ding!, Triversity and Team Gravity.

New strategies unfolded as we learned more about the different styles the European teams bring to the table. Aggressive play was the name of the game as several matches went into overtime. In the finals, the teamwork of JACKS proved too much for Ding! As they cleaned house with a 2:0 sweep and a score of 9 to 4 in the final round.

Alongside team ec.LiP.se, the North American winners at Oculus Connect, JACKS will be waiting for the rest of the teams at the grand finals in IEM Katowice 2018 who will also have to qualify through the weekly online tournaments on ESL Play.

Congratulations to team JACKS!

Join the competition!

Don’t have a Rift of your own yet? We’re giving away three Oculus Rift + Touch kits at vr.eslgaming.com/raffle! Enter, win and sign up for the weekly VR Challenger League tournaments in your region on ESL Play!